Wireless (e.g., radio, infrared, microwave) communication links now enable computer systems comprised of very small portable computers that have the capability of being networked at all times and in all locations. Production of small, portable computers is the strongest trend in the computer industry, and wireless communication is one of the strongest trends in the telecommunication industry.
The visible difference of pen-based computers from other technologies is in the use of a stylus (e.g.—a pen or pencil) as the primary means of interaction between a user and a machine, picking up the familiar pen and paper interface metaphor. With pen computing, a pen-like stylus is used on a digital surface to write and annotate information. Within the special computer is contained a digitizer which captures and interprets the text that is entered.
The global workforce is increasingly mobile and pen-based computing is on the rise. Smart handheld devices are emerging from the realm of individual purchases to enterprise deployment as they become key tools for connectivity to the corporate environment. Development of handheld applications and wireless technology tailored for the enterprise represent are serving the increasing the remote and mobile worker population.
Credit cards were originally introduced to for use at POS terminals to replace charge-a-plates. Plastic charge cards, debit cards, ATM cards, stored value cards are fair game for thieves. It is not uncommon for people to carry more than eight cards in their wallets. The cards must be replaced every few years, and the cards may become damaged with frequent usage. In addition, consumer fraud and card counterfeiting are on the rise. The cards can be easily lost or stolen, signatures can be easily forged and PIN's can be readily determined by others. Hence, while plastic cards are easier to carry than money, they are almost as negotiable as money to sophisticated criminals.
Also, a devastating pattern of security lapses is laid out in a 1999 congressional report on China's acquisition of America's most vital nuclear and missile secrets. Beijing remains far from nuclear parity with the United States. The federal government is right to concern itself with protecting America's computer networks against cyber attacks by terrorists or foreign governments. Computer network security is a real and growing problem. The Federal Government needs to protect not just sensitive defense secrets, but also the computers that manage air traffic control, Social Security, Medicare and a host of other civilian programs. Also, while E-commerce and smart pen technology find increased acceptance, the future growth of these technologies will continue to be hampered by security concerns.
The use of physical attributes—fingerprints, a voiceprint, or any of several other characteristics—to verify identity has great potential. Passwords and personal-identification numbers (PIN's) are fraught with problems. Biometrics offers solutions. Applications that are preparing to accept biometric data include computer networks, ATMs, cars, cellular phones, and dozens of other types of embedded systems.
Widespread acceptance of biometrics means use in areas that daily affect the lives of millions of people. By replacing PIN's, biometric techniques prevent the unauthorized access to or fraudulent use of ATM's, cellular phones, smart cards, desktop PC's, workstations, and computer networks. For financial transactions conducted via telephone and wire, biometrics can replace PIN's and passwords. In buildings and work areas, biometric techniques replace keys, badges, and readers.
By replacing PIN's for transfers of funds to the cards, biometrics enhance the security of credit/debit-card (plastic-money) systems and prepaid telephone calling cards. Biometric techniques also provide security not previously envisioned for “cash” balances stored in such cards. For POS terminals, biometric techniques can replace a clerk's verification of a customer's signature.
Biometric techniques can also potentially replace driver's licenses or passports for authenticating the identity of airline passengers. Similar techniques can replace or supplement passports and visas for establishing the identity of people seeking to cross national borders at customs and immigration checkpoints.
In hospitals, biometric techniques can replace ID bracelets to establish patients' identities—for example, before blood administration. Biometrics could help confirm the identity of people seeking public assistance, Medicare, and other government and insurance benefits. In these applications, biometrics would replace or supplement a variety of systems, of which photo ID's are probably the most popular. Biometrics can also authenticate e-mail and other documents transmitted via computer networks.
An example of a rapidly growing biometric technology, fingerprints offer an infallible means of personal identification and are rich in information content. The use of fingerprints for identification dates back many decades, but gained wide acceptance about 100 years ago. Fingerprints are the biometric that form the basis of all worldwide identification. Fingerprints don't change with time while other physical characteristics do. Fingerprint minutiae uniquely identify fingerprints. It has been proven that minutiae, were unchanging and repeatable features of each fingerprint, and were individually unique. Each finger has a unique arrangement of ridge detail. There are two major types of information in a fingerprint. First is the ridge flow information, and second is the specific features or minutiae (minutia) of the fingerprint. As used herein, the term “minutia” is used to denote both the singular and plural. Fingerprints uniquely identify an individual based on their information content. Information is represented in a fingerprint by the minutia and their relative topological relationships. The number of minutia in a fingerprint varies from one finger to another, but, on average, there are about eighty (80) to one hundred and fifty (150) minutia per fingerprint. In the fingerprint context, a large store of fingerprints exists in law enforcement offices around the country. Since fingerprints never change, a person need only be fingerprinted once to be in the system.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,680,470 (Moussa et al.) discloses a method of signature verification involving a set of template signatures that are examined for test features which are normalized and irrelevant features are removed. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 5,559,895 (Lee et al.) discloses a system for real time signature verification where the signatures are digitized for statistical analysis and various personal features are selected.
Current stylus-type verification systems use metric-type sensors—accelerometers and pressure sensors to measure stylus pressure and stroke sweep in the users' signature. U.S. Pat. No. 5,774,571 (Marshall) discloses a stylus with multiple sensors for biometric verification including grip pressure sensors and gyroscopes. U.S. Pat. No. 4,513,437 (Chainer et al.) discloses another data input stylus for signature verification which includes accelerometers and pressure sensors. U.S. Pat. No. 5,247,137 (Epperson) discloses a stylus that enables biometric identification by means of comparison of graphics data and textural data from a remote location. The stylus also captures strokes and gestures which can also be used for confirming identification. U.S. Pat. No. 5,103,486 (Grippi) discloses a system for using a combination of biometrics at POS terminals. Prisms are used to capture the fingerprint of the index finger while the individual signs his/her name. The fingerprint image and the signature are processed to form a composite representative for comparison with information shown on a credit card for processing of commercial transactions.
What is needed is a pen-based verification process that enables an event to occur only when identity has been confirmed, the process employing state-of-the-art sensors (a) that can be used for signature verification at point-of-sale terminals that captures biometric data in a nonobtrusive manner, while serving as a system that can eventually replace card-based transaction systems; (b) that can authenticate identity continually in pen-based computing systems to ensure that the person seeking access to information has pre-approved authorization for such access; and (c) that is compatible with smart pens ensuring the use of the pen and access to data through the pen has been pre-approved.
What is needed is a process that is compatible in smaller closed environments where the size of the community is limited for confirmation of event access without the need for encryption techniques once identification has been verified by biometric means; a process that enables the use of biometric sensors in a broad range of applications while eliminating the need for separate biometric sensors and units with wiring that would otherwise need to be integrated into the existing systems; that is user friendly, nonobtrusive to use, virtually impregnable to criminals, that enables authorized access to certain events while barring unauthorized access, that can be readily adapted to include any number of pen-based applications.
What is needed is a pen-based verification process that is compatible with encryption technology so that event access is confirmed locally (a) eliminating most privacy concerns (b) simplifying system logic while improving system speed, and (c) reducing the complexity and cost of the biometric sensors.
What is needed is a pen-based verification process that will provide customers with the privacy that they may want while ensuring the integrity of their accounts and their name; a process that requires no hardware at the point-of-sale terminal other than a stylus (many similar type styli being already in place); a process that will significantly reduce transaction time; a process that is convenient to use and unobtrusive to customers; a process that provides improved processing speed and accuracy; a process that is secure and safe from illegal entry; and a process for confirming personal identification that is reliable, a process that will actually discourage thieves.